Pleonasm comes from the Greek pleon, meaning ‘to be in excess’ or the use of more words than are necessary, such as ‘black darkness’ or ‘burning fire’.
Some describe the phrase ‘added value’ in this manner, a tautologous phrase, something that may be trotted out by politicians trying to sell a particular policy.
But for business, added value is vital in selling your product, whether a TV offered with a free programme package, a new car with lots of bells and whistles thrown in or offering support that enhances the skills of the workforce in accountancy firms.
This added value could include filling shortages on a short or long-term basis, such as maternity or sickness, freeing up time to build new client relationships and taking a lead role in supplying, developing and maintaining the latest cloud accounting packages.
This real added value is supplied by outsourcing firms like GI and is ever more critical as the UK labour market has again more than one million vacancies.
The jobs boom is still setting records, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), with vacancies in the UK hitting a record 1,102,000 in the period from July to September.
This is the second consecutive month that the three-month average has topped one million people. The latest rise is an increase of 318,000 over the pre-pandemic January to March figure in 2020.
It is a bit of a conundrum, employment rising and unemployment falling, but with increased economic activity after the pandemic, businesses are keen to grow, but are struggling to recruit the right staff.
Vacancies in the accommodation and food service activities increased the most, by nearly 50,000 or 59 per cent. But sectors offering professional services were also hit hard, according to the figures.
A survey of UK-based accountancy firms by recruitment agency Hays, earlier this year, had already found that 83 per cent of UK accountancy and finance firms have experienced skills shortages in the last 12 months.
This is where outsourcing can mitigate these costs like training and rising wages, by supplying cover and delivering added value in freeing up time for senior accountants to build the business. In addition, GI’s pre-eminence in cloud accounting app implementation and development helps significantly increase efficiency and profitability.
According to recent research by the IRIS software group, accountants would gladly use the extra time freed up by outsourcing to:
- Dedicate more time to work-life balance (45 per cent)
- Complete higher fee-earning work (33 per cent)
- Build client relationships (27 per cent), and one in five (20 per cent)
If you have a problem, need web-based accounting applications advice or extra support for a work/life balance, we have a solution for you.
It may sound like pleonasm, but we can offer extra added value.
Contact our UK-based team of account managers today to find out how we can help your firm.
